Culbertson brings ‘Funk!’ to MCG
Jazz concert halls are often stereotyped as staid, conservative places. Tonight, Brian Culbertson hopes to change that with a concert at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild.
Mr. Culbertson, a keyboardist who also plays trombone, is touring behind his most recent CD, “Funk!”, which includes the single “Been Around the World.” At this show, he promises “very high energy — a lot of singalong and dancing.”
A native of Decatur, Ill., Mr. Culbertson sent a demo tape to Bud Harner of Mesa/ Bluemoon Records while still in high school. He sent another while attending DePaul University in Chicago. The second got him a six-album contract with the label, and his first CD, “Long Night Out,” was actually recorded and mixed in the bedroom of his apartment.
“I was a 20-year-old student. I was freaking out,” he said.
That album, recorded with drum machines and sequencers, put him on the map and eventually landed him in Los Angeles.
Two years ago Mr. Culbertson redid that album, retitled “Another Long Night Out,” this time with some of the musicians who inspired him as a young artist.
Recently he and his wife, Michelle, also from the Midwest, moved back to Chicago because “we missed the city living — L.A. is not a city.” He noted that flying out of Chicago is a lot easier, and “touring out of Chicago is really cool.”
Long considered a smooth jazz musician, he never wanted to be pigeonholed as such. He notes the similarities between smooth jazz and the R&B he grew up listening to.
“I think they go in tandem,” he said. “It’s just going a little bit further with it.”
After a jam session with Prince some years back, “the next day I decided to make my first funk record” (2009’s “Bringing Back the Funk”), and he called Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White (“my hero”) to produce it. The new album is dedicated to Mr. White and Prince, both of whom died earlier this year.
Although he doesn’t consider himself a singer, “I’m singing a bunch on this record. On this kind of music, it doesn’t really matter [how well you sing]. It’s all about the vibe.”
The band includes keyboardist Eddie Miller, guitarist Tyrone Chase, bassist Mike Harrington, drummer Chris Miskel, saxophonist Marqueal Jordan and trumpeter Michael “Patches” Stewart.
Mr. Culbertson says his next recording might be “romantic, acoustic, pianobased. I get bored. I want to be on the move.”
The guild shows mark only his second time playing in Pittsburgh and his first as a leader. His first time performing here was opening for Barry Manilow five years ago at the Mellon Arena.
“For a while we had the same management team. Barry saw me at some other show, and he invited me to do his tour,” he says. “I got some ‘Fanilows.’”